We ensure your donation is money well spent – irrespective of the size of the endowment

Setting up an independent foundation requires a significant financial, administrative and legal effort. Administration is also time-consuming.

Bringing together structures, processes, financial resources and true expertise beneath one roof simplifies the procedures and ensures that your foundation idea is put into practice. This means you can set up your own foundation even with a small endowment.

Under our auspices, management of your foundation idea will remain lean. You can choose between the general and a custom tailored foundation fund.

Fondation des Fondateurs provides two foundation vehicles

We offer founders to choose between two vehicles to execute their charitable foundation idea without any restriction whatsoever in terms of content or geographic location: the general foundation fund or a dedicated foundation fund.

The general foundation fund

The general foundation fund is the suitable vehicle for founders seeking to make single or multiple donations without a specific foundation purpose. Donations are forwarded to the designated charitable organisations according to your instructions. The details are defined in a donation agreement. We can assure rapid and reliable issue of charitable donation certificates.

The dedicated foundation fund

The dedicated foundation fund allows you to pursue the purpose of your choice. Operationally, your foundation fund is managed precisely like an independent foundation, but remains legally and administratively embedded within the umbrella foundation. The assets, their returns and donations are used to finance grant-making activities – according to your instructions.

When setting up a dedicated foundation fund, the founders define purpose, objectives and activities of the fund in a foundation fund charter with Fondation des Fondateurs (FdF). The founders are given utmost leeway in respect to capitalising the fund, its structure, and the diversity and adaptability of its purposes.

With the dedicated foundation fund vehicle FdF offers founders functions that are identical to those for an independent foundation:

Your foundation fund under the umbrella of FdF can be converted into an independent foundation at any time, should this become necessary.

Immediate tax exemption in all cases

Donations made to the general foundation fund as well as to the dedicated funds are always deductible from direct taxes within the framework of the tax legislation applicable to the respective founder. Donors will always receive a charitable donation certificate in return for the donation.

Do you have any questions?
Please feel free to contact us.

What is an umbrella foundation?

An umbrella foundation provides dependent foundations and smaller endowments with the opportunity to pool administrative tasks, asset management, and certain aspects of project support. On the one hand there are umbrella foundations operated by banks, while on the other we find independent umbrella foundations managed by financial service providers. Umbrella foundations are ideally suited to accommodate 'sub-foundations' and legacies. They maintain a professional system of asset and donation management, and represent a particularly attractive alternative to an individual foundation, especially in the case of less substantial estates.

Your advantage with the FdF:

We enable founders to choose between two vehicles to execute their charitable foundation idea without any restriction whatsoever in terms of content or geographic location: a general foundation fund or a dedicated, restricted foundation fund.